Ava DuVernay: The Making of "Selma"

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 marked its 50th anniversary in 2015. Director Ava DuVernay discussed her film Selma, which chronicles the historic civil rights marches from Selma to Montgomery in 1965.

On releasing Selma in the midst of heightened racial tensions in the US: “So often, civil rights films have a patina of respectability over them, but we made a choice not to shy away from the violence or intricacies of the Movement. All of the unplanned factors [including instances of civil unrest in 2014] then contributed to a moment in time where people were ready to hear this story in a certain way.”

On the need for more genuine dialogue around race: “The race conversation has been so constructed – I think it’s often performed as opposed to deeply felt, but we need to learn to talk to each other without shame and fear.”

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